


When You Least Expect It

by BuggyNess



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, I don't know where this is going but let's see!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2015-08-08
Packaged: 2018-03-05 06:02:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3108728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuggyNess/pseuds/BuggyNess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Forced to live with their absent father following their mother's death, the Elrics make their new lives in Central City. Everything goes from bad to worse the weekend before they start school. Modern AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One Shoe

The young man spouted expletives colorful enough to make a sailor blush. Only, he dared not say them out loud, no, he kept them confined inside his own mind. Edward Elric already tested those waters, having cursed his absent father and gained no response good or bad from the man. To his credit, Van Hohenheim must have read some child psychology manuals as he stood stoic and firm when his sixteen-year-old son told him just exactly, where he could go the day he came to pick them up for Central City.

Ed failed to convince the old bastard how uprooting him and his younger brother from the only life they knew was unfair. He berated the good doctor for waiting until now, after all, Trisha died three years earlier and the boys lived just fine on their own. Unfortunately, Hohenheim and Child Protective Services teamed up against them on that issue and the old man and the government won the battle. It seemed two teenagers raising themselves in rural Amestris was not as an ideal situation as being raised by a successful and financially secure emergency room physician. What Ed didn't know was how their little town of Resembool had rallied to keep the boys in their home when their father first came to get them. He and his brother did know how they always had hot meals either brought to them or invites to eat with their neighbors. They knew that someone was watching over them, fixing the house and making sure they had fuel to keep it warm and toasty in the winter.

"Ed?" Al's voice brought the boy back to the bleak reality that he and his little brother were on the diesel train headed right to Central City so they could now live with their dumb father, a person they didn't even know. And, summer break was about over so they'd be starting high school in a strange place with strange people.

"Hmmm?"

"Do you think Dad is a bad person?" Alphonse always held fast to the belief that something beyond the old man's control tore him from his family, despite the fact that he knew their dad never married their mom and left on his own accord when the love ceased.

"Don't know." He paused for a moment. "There's got to be an angle for him...something for him to gain by taking us in as our guardian." He snorted. "Like I NEED a guardian." He crossed his arms and huffed.

"No, we were happy back home. I miss the old house." Alphonse sighed. "I'm worried what it will be like in Central. I don't like not knowing anyone either."

"You stick close to me, you'll be just fine." Edward tried to reassure his brother, but his voice still carried trepidation.

* * *

Winry saw the parking lot lights from the high school coming up fast, she had to slow down to make the left turn, the wheels on her mountain bike whirring pleasantly. She loved riding the trails in the woods behind the school, especially so early in the morning when the dew and fog beat down the summer heat. She hated waking up early, especially on a Saturday morning but this feeling of freedom and the cool mist in the woods on her skin made it worth missing the extra winks. Besides, school started this coming Monday and she'd need to get in as many rides as she could before the weather turned. The girl smiled knowing only frozen mud and snow would keep her from riding the trail she adored.

A bright red blob of color just peaking through the fog caught her eye. As she came closer, Winry realized that it was a car parked beside the curb leading up to the school. She didn't pay it much attention other than to file away the image, make and model: brand new Ford Mustang. She'd make sure to tell Granny, Gramps and Pitt when she got back home. They loved this type of car. Winry loved to drive them, but taking them apart and putting them back together could make a fun weekend too. The girl smiled again, thinking the car probably belonged to some stupid kid who didn't know how to properly appreciate the horsepower under the hood when driving the thing. She pedaled faster, heading off the concrete and into the grass leading to the woods and her beloved trail.

* * *

His stomach churned and rolled with sickness, waking him with a start. The boy couldn't remember how he arrived at the high school or why he sat shotgun in _his_ new car, but he remembered stealing the bottle of bourbon from the bastard parent and making Al drive the shiny new red car said bastard presented him with as a truce symbol. The gift only enraged Edward, like the old fart could buy his forgiveness for all the absent years and suddenly ripping the two of them from the only life they knew. Alphonse, being too young to drive, pouted a little when Hohenheim gifted his brother the automobile. This was short lived as bastard-dad handed the boy a wad of cash and a new laptop. Despite not having his license yet, the younger Elric had learned to drive the Renbeck's farm truck so Ed's sweet mustang came as no challenge for him.

"Brother?" Al rubbed his sleepy eyes getting his own liquor head ache. Though he didn't imbibe as much as Edward, the boy took sips of the expensive bourbon as he drove his enraged brother around so the elder could get wasted. When he started to feel the effects, he pulled over at the high school so they could sit and continue drinking  _safely._

"God damn-it." Ed swore as he rubbed his head, trying to force the hangover away.

"That bad, huh?" Al chuckled. "You know, if we sought to make Dad worried and mad, I think we're successful."

"Good. What the hell was he thinking getting me a fucking car." Edward mirrored his brother's laughter with his own. "He's supposed to be so smart. He's a dumbass."

"I'm surprised we've not seen any cops. Do you suppose he's looking for us?"

"Who cares." Edward looked over meeting his brother's golden eyes. "Let's just rest off the drunk a bit, and go find some pancakes. You're buying." The boy's smile widened, showing his pointy canines.

"Yeah." Al rested his head back and gazed through the mist, not seeing anything in particular. "We'll face the music after breakfast." After all, what could Hohenheim do that was worse than already turning their lives upside down. "You're probably going to loose your car, though...for a while."

Both boys laughed hysterically at that comment until their throbbing heads forced them to stop.

She wished she could spend more time on her bike, but it had already been forty minutes and she had the Camaro to work on with Gran and Gramps today. As much as the cool woodland trail held her interest, learning how to replace that old engine piqued it more. The muscle car was  _her_  baby anyhow, she earned it and if she ever wanted to actually  _drive_  it she'd have to get it running somehow. This meant a shorter morning ride. Winry emerged from the forest and pedaled up the hill until her tires met grass, then pavement. She finally came to the brick structure of the school and found that the fog dispersed more since she started. There, by the main entrance, the red mustang sat, only this time, she made out two occupants in the front seat. Curiosity got the better of her, she just had to see who owned the beautiful car. Probably some old guy sleeping off a drunk, but the girl figured she'd zoom by so fast she'd be able to evade any old creeps. Without any further thought, she coasted down the sidewalk of the school and directly toward the parked car. Her bike picked up speed and she pedaled faster.

"Ugh, Al, I have to take a leak." Ed groaned and fiddled with the door handled on the passenger side. "I'm driving, so get out." He bossed his brother gaining a huff in response.

"What if you're still drunk? You better let me drive to the restaurant, Brother."

"I'm fine!" He pushed the handle, the door opening a bit as he yelled. "Just move your ass!" With those final words, he threw the door open with a jerk.

SMASH!

The door slammed back before the boy could exit. Something hard and fast hit it, pushing it back. The brothers looked at each other for a second before they heard soft moaning coming from outside. Alphonse got out of the car first.

"Ed! Get out here, quick!"

Edward dreaded seeing the inevitable. Although neither of them saw a person on a bike, he knew that's what happened – he'd opened his door just as some idiot zoomed past. In other words, he was in deep shit trouble. He trudged out of the car to see just what he expected.

"Fuck." A mangled bicycle lay on the grass, its front wheel bent and unusable. On the hard sidewalk in a pool of blond hair and bright spandex, lay a girl. "You asshole! Look at my car!" Indeed, he only saw the huge dent in the door. The girl's moans of pain made him take pause if only for a moment.

"Brother!" Alphonse corralled him to the body on the sidewalk, the blonde girl now clutched her left eye and struggled to sit upright. "Hey, are you ok?" His voice turned from brash and striking toward his sibling to kind and soft toward the hurt girl. Al knelt down to try and help her up. She couldn't stand and landed back down on her rump.

"What the hell happened?" She garbled as blood fell from a cut in her hairline. Her vision, too was affected and her head felt like someone whacked her with a baseball bat. Winry realized she must have taken the fall on the concrete right at her left orbital area. She wondered if she fractured her skull. It figured. School started Monday and having a nice black eye and stitches sounded just about right.

"You ran right into my car, that's what happened!" Ed paced around them not sure what to do.

"Edward! Stop it!" Al had just enough. "She's hurt!"

"He's too worried about his stupid car to care." Winry finally stood up and wobbled a bit before Al's hand on her shoulder steadied her. Thinking about almost being killed and the little blond moron only worried about the dent her now mangled bike made on the car door caused anger to grow wildly inside her.  _Her mangled bike_. The girl caught blurry sight of her second baby splayed out dead as a door nail on the grass beside the sidewalk. The bicycle's front tire was bent unnaturally as was her frame. "Son of a bitch!" Winry broke from Alphonse's helping hands and staggered over to her broken bike. She didn't make it far before everything started spinning. "You little twerp! Why didn't you watch before opening the door!" Her one good eye stared a hole in the center of Edward's head.

"Just who the fuck are you calling  _little_! And, YOU weren't watching where YOU were going either!" Ed pointed at her as he shouted.

Whack!

The shoe sailed through the air and hit the young man square on the face, knocking him back a step. He never even saw the girl slip it off her foot.

"Dumb jerk!" Winry tried to right her body after throwing her left shoe at the asshole who destroyed her bike. However, the spinning world caught up with her and she no longer could stand. Things went fuzzy then blue and she was out. The girl fell right into Edward, who caught her before she injured the other side of her face. He held onto her as a little girl would hold a spider for the first time, all the while glaring at his brother until he finally let her body come softly to the concrete sidewalk.

"Let's bail!" He almost made it to the car before his brother's hand firmly on the back of his t-shirt collar caused his body to spring backward, swinging him around until they met eye to golden eye. Al's stern face told him that they were not going to leave the girl there.

"I think we need to call Dad."

"God, Al. I'm in so much fucking trouble!" Two things, well, THREE things came to his mind. One, he and his brother were out all night in the new car. Two, said new car now had a huge dent. Three, he may or may not have killed a girl.

"Ed...just get the cell phone and call him, please?" Al knelt to the concrete and made sure Winry was breathing, finding that she was just out cold, he waited until his brother returned from the car holding his iphone. Edward fidgeted with the display and held the phone to his ear.

"Hey." The boy's voice carried great trepidation, not knowing what to expect. "Dad...we've got a problem."

* * *

Seven-forty in the morning on a Saturday was a terrible time to wait in Central City Hospital's Emergency room. Not that it was all that crowded, but because his head throbbed from a wicked hangover and his stomach growled in protest of being empty. Edward shifted his butt from left to right cheek in the suspiciously hard vinyl seat as his brother snored softly beside him. After a while of this, a pretty brunette nurse exited the beige-wood double doors and motioned to the two to follow her. Edward smacked Alphonse's head to rouse him and the two followed her back to a long row of emergency room patient cubes until stopping and motioned them to enter one.

"Dad?" Alphonse tried to smile as he met the golden but bespectacled eyes of Van Hohenheim staring hard and stern back at his idiot boys. The blond girl sat upright on a bed, a bandage wrapped around her head.

"Boys." Van's voice carried with it both lecture and disappointment. "This is Winry Rockbell." He turned to glare specifically at Edward. "Both she and you are lucky she only has a concussion. I think you owe her an apology." The girl smiled evilly at Edward.

"What?" Ed tried not to pounce. "She ran into my car door!"

"You opened it!" Winry exploded but fell back to nurse her sore head.

"Whatever!" Edward's own head pounded with all the yelling.

"I don't care what or how it happened, it ended up with someone sustaining a head wound. Say you're sorry, Edward."

"Fine...I'm sorry you don't know how to watch where you're going and hit my door."

Whack!

"Ow!" Edward hollered as his own brother kicked him hard in the shin marking and end to the bickering. "Ok, ok." He rubbed his leg and smirked at Al. "Winry, I'm really sorry I...I...caused you to wreck, I'm sorry you got hurt."

"I think that's as good as I'm going to get." She smiled and let Van help her down from the bed.

"Let me also apologize for my sons...it's been, well a  _challenge_  for us all recently." He didn't want to elaborate more on bringing the boys to Central City and their resistance to both the move and to him. "I have to finish my shift but think they are able to drive you home...please let them because it will be a good LONG while before they will be driving that car or  _any_  car." His cold glare froze both his sons in their shoes.

"Um...no...no thank you. It's not really far, I'll just walk." Winry started to leave but Van's authoritative voice stopped her.

"I can't let you do that. You need to go home and rest, you need someone to check on you hourly too." He handed her the discharge papers with instructions on home care for a concussion. "I can call someone to pick you up."

"No!" She pleaded with him and none of them knew why she just didn't let the boys take her home. She sighed in defeat. "Alright, they can take me home...and I have my grandmother to check on me."

"Great...then follow us." Ed motioned to the door, not missing his father crossing his arms as if to tell him more punishment was in store for them when he got home. The boy started to sweat.

A minute later and the trio found Ed's not so perfect car in the hospital garage, the giant dent marring the otherwise exquisiteness that once was. Edward dug into his pants pocket for his keys and unlocked the doors. Alphonse, being a gentleman, pushed back the passenger seat and squished himself in the tiny backseat space so Winry could ride shotgun. This kind act didn't go unnoticed by the girl.

"Really?" She turned to Edward. "You should let you're brother drive, he's bigger than you and is all scrunched up back there." Alphonse gulped in response.

"Do you wanna ride in the trunk with your bike?" Ed grumbled but held back, he just wanted to drop off this girl and enjoy his last ride in the car.

"Hmmph." Winry also bit her tongue. She also just wanted to crash back home and hoped Gran would still let her at least observe them working on her Camaro, but doubted it now that she was injured.

"So, are you gonna tell me where to take you or want me to guess and drive around Central for hours?" Suddenly, the latter didn't seem so bad to him, at least he'd not have to face his Dad and get to drive longer.

"Right...um..." The girl knew there was no way out of it, the doctor's son's were going to see where she lived and the of that made her sicker than her throbbing head. "Do you know where the industrial section of Central City is?"

"Yeah?" Edward started the car and drove out of the garage.

"Head there and I'll tell you where to turn." She buckled her seat belt.

After a few minutes, the three found themselves parked in front of a small yellow house dwarfed by dark, smoke-stained brick buildings. The train track ran across the street from the house which only cemented the strangeness of the dwelling in this bleak industrial section of town. The home may have been in an ugly area, but it was neat and clean, rather shining yellow in the sea of gray. Adjacent to the house was a cinder-block garage with three car bays. A large sign, as bright as the house itself, hung high over the middle of the structure and read, "Rockbell Auto." The whole back lot of the garage section was hemmed in with a high, worn privacy fence.

"This is me." Winry opened the damaged passenger door and painfully exited the car. She held back the seat so Alphonse could also get out and take her place in the front. She shut the door and scrutinized the dent. "You know, I could fix that, if you want."

"Really?" Edward's gloom suddenly turned cheerful thinking about his car pristine once again.

"Well, it'll cost you...not doing it for free." She smirked.

"You caused it!"

"No, you did!"

"Ok, let's stop this." Al, the voice of reason piped up. "You know, I don't think I ever introduced myself." He leaned through the open window and extended his hand. "I'm Alphonse Elric...and you probably already heard from Dad that this..." He thumbed at his grumpy brother. "Is my older brother Edward." Winry shook his hand.

"I would have figured you the older one."

"Hey!" Ed answered.

"Brother is really sorry you got hurt. We hope to see you around, okay?" The boy's incredible smile melted any anger left in the girl and she smiled back.

"Sure." She turned and walked toward the house, wobbling wearing one shoe and one green hospital sock.. The boys waited until she was safe inside and drove away.

"Making a date?" Edward chided.

"Maybe." Al daydreamed a bit until they were miles away and reached the gate to their community. He watched as Ed punched in the code and the iron gate swung open and his brother drove through. They passed multimillion dollar estates until coming upon their own driveway and gate. It was only after they entered and found the beat-up car parked safely in the garage did he remember. "Oh no!"

"What?"

"Her bike is in the trunk."

"Yeah, well, maybe we can do something about that." A sly smile crept across Ed's face, one Al had grown to know and fear. "Some sort of equivalent exchange?"

Alphonse hoped he would approve of whatever numskull plan Edward's brain manufactured.


	2. She Should Have Worn Her Helmet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Had Winry worn her helmet, there would be no need to make things equal.

"Just what the hell happened to you!" Granny Pinako nearly dropped her pipe when Winry slunk inside the house nursing an ever growing shiner and all bandaged up. The old woman tugged off her yellow latex gloves and chucked them in the drainer of the sink then gingerly held onto the counter so she could get down from the step stool that enabled her to wash the dishes comfortably.

"Granny! I don't like you using that stool when no one's in the house!" She snorted and tried to deflect her own woes to their ongoing argument about safety and her concern for her elderly grandmother. "You could have fallen!"

"...and can't get up?" Pinako chuckled.

"That's not funny." Winry pouted and pulled aside the worn wooden chair and planted herself at the kitchen table as her grandmother scurried next to her to examine her wounds.

"Girl...where's your bike?" The old woman knew exactly what happened, her granddaughter had to have wrecked, but judging from the expert bandaging, she knew that Winry had medical care from a doctor. The hospital bracelet around her left wrist sealed the deal.

"Well..." She totally forgot about her dead bike and wracked her cramping brain to remember just where it was. Then, it hit her. "Crap." She sighed. "It's in his trunk."

"Whose trunk? You better spill, girl." Pinako pulled up her own chair, scooted it next to the girl then sat down. "And where's your helmet?"

"I sort of had an accident...totally not my fault!" Winry relayed her version of the story and how she unfortunately met the Elric brothers and their father Dr. Hohenheim. "So, here I am. I've lost my shoe and probably will have to see that mean Edward character again when he brings my bike back." She took in a breath to finish, knowing her grandmother would not like what she was going to say. "I forgot my helmet. It's still in my room."

"You know I should ground you for not wearing the head gear." Pinako threatened.

"Granny! I'm fine!" Winry knew the black eye and bandage didn't make her look fine. "And, my bike...there's nothing I can do to fix it...the frame's bent to hell."

"Watch the language."

"Sorry." Winry long lost the argument on using dirty words in front of Granny – despite the old woman using some colorful language herself. "Ugh, I just don't know if I could deal with him again today, he's just, just so  _infuriating_! I mean, his brother was the only reason I got to the hospital in the first place...Al seems to be the nice one." Indeed, she could stand to see the younger Elric's face again, he was so much kinder and not bad to look at either. Ed, on the other hand, he seemed to be in a constant state of  _scowl._

"I'm not at all happy about this, Winry." Pinako's face became stern. "These boys hurt you and destroyed your bike, I think I need to call up their father, the good doctor." The old woman smiled. "I know Dr. Hohenheim, personally."

"You know him?"

"Yes, dear, from years ago." The look on her face told the girl she wasn't going to give any more away than that. "Still, I think they are responsible for replacing your bike so he needs a call." She made motions to get up.

"Gran...I don't want any more trouble, please don't. Besides, you should see what his car looks like." Her face shone with mirth.

"Really?" Pinako sat back down.

"Yeah and Ed's probably got a black eye too...I hit him with my missing shoe." She startled to giggle.

"Hard?"

"Pretty hard." Winry could no longer contain her laughter and Pinako joined her.

"Good girl..." The old woman stood from her seat and made her way over to the sink, grabbing her step stool and carrying it to the refrigerator granting her easier access to freezer. "Now, let's get you some relief for that eye." She rifled through the icebox until she found a large bundle wrapped in a freezer bag. Granny stepped down and slammed the parcel on the adjacent counter then unwrapped its contents revealing two large sirloin steaks. She finished prying them apart then opened a drawer and retrieved another freezer bag. Leaving one steak on the counter and still in its bag, she took the two or three steps back to the table placing the second steak in the pristine bag, zipping it and handing it to Winry. "I was going to defrost these tomorrow for Sunday supper, but I guess we can have them tonight...hold this to your eye."

"Ok?" Winry placed the frozen bag of meat on her eye.

"Don't hold it continuously or you'll get frostbite...when it thaws enough, take it out of the bag and let the steak lay on the bruise." She smirked and reached for her pipe. "That'll be YOUR steak."

"Gee, thanks." Then the girl remembered something important. "So, can I still help with the Camaro today?"

"Are you serious?" Pinako now stood over the waste bin and tapped the ashes out of her pipe. "You have a head wound...YOU are spending today in bed."

"Crap." Winry's pouted, a pout she'd practiced since she was a baby and perfected years ago.

"Well, I could prop you up in the cot from the back room and let you watch..." She never could keep her granddaughter from something she really wanted and she knew Winry used those baby eyes to work her over.

"That'd be great!" She yelled so loud, her head hurt.

 

* * *

  

"Brother, dad's going to kill us, shock us back to life again then kill us again." Alphonse realized in the span of a half hour since dropping the Rockbell girl at her house, that he sat shotgun once again. "And he's a doctor so he knows how to do it."

"Calm down, we'll be done and back at the house before he gets home at noon. Besides, we'll not have a chance to get this done when he takes the car away."

"Still, I don't think he'll be happy we did all this without asking him."

"What's one more coal on the fire?" Ed cringed because he knew that even though he'd figure out a way to fix all their troubles, they were still in trouble before the door was smashed. Before long, they pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall, the elder brother releasing the trunk latch with his key fob. "C'mon, help me with this wreck."

"I still don't know how you spending  _my_  money is helping me." Al assisted his brother in extricating the mangled bike frame from the car. "I still don't know how you talked me into that." When it was out, he noticed a small, neon green sneaker laying in the truck – her shoe.

"Let me explain it to you again..." They carried the frame to the shop and leaned it outside against the brick. "Your money getting my car up and running will equal you driving my car when we go out."

Edward said it so matter-of-factually that Alphonse almost bought it. Almost.

"Not enough." He stood tall in front of his shorter brother.

"Ok...what do you want?"

"I don't know, I'll think about it and you'll agree to it?"

"Sure, yeah, whatever you want." They both entered the shop and were greeted by a muscular clerk, dressed in spandex.

"Welcome, what can I help you with?" He smiled too wide for Edward's liking.

"Um, we sort of destroyed a friend's bike and want to replace it with a similar one." Ed motioned to the door and led the clerk outside to see the bent up frame.

"You did a doozey on this one...but I can recommend a great upgrade to this model..." The clerk walked them back inside and motioned to a row of bikes in the store. Dollar signs replaced his eyes as he knew he'd be making a good commission from these boys.

 

* * *

 

Winry tried to enjoy watching Pitt and Gramps work on her car, she really did. It just wasn't the same watching from the sidelines instead of getting her hands all greasy. Her head hurt her fiercely despite the good medication Granny gave her. She thanked the boys profusely for helping her then decided to go upstairs and lay in her bed for a while. Winry hadn't been wrapped all cozy and warm in her fluffy purple comforter a scant ten minutes when her cell phone rang. She eyed the contact on the screen and grabbed the device.

"Paninya?" The girl hadn't heard hide nor hair from her friend since the end of the last school year. Paninya spent her summers working as a 4-H camp counselor way down in Rush Valley. Winry wished her friend would have made an effort to call her when she could, but she kept herself so freaking busy there apparently was no time for old friends until the weekend before school started. That hurt, a little.

"In the flesh!"

"About time I heard from you, Turd."

"Hey, what can I say, my social calendar was full." She snorted. "Anywho, I'm dying to see you and guess what?"

"Chicken butt?"

"Nope, not even that. The guys are doing one last swim before we have to go back to prison on Monday and you are one of the elite invited."

"Ugh...not today." She felt the knot under her bandage.

"No, silly, not today, tomorrow morning so pack a lunch. I'm coming over tonight so we can go together early and stake out a good rock and lay out and let them drool over our bods."

"Great." Winry really didn't think anyone would drool over her body with her black eye and puffy face. "Paninya, I can't. I had an accident..."

"What! You gotta broken leg or something?"

"No, just a mushed up face."

"Oh, I'm so coming over...I'll fix you up!" She hung up the phone before Winry could protest.

"God, help me."

Knock, knock, knock!

She heard the loud sound rising up from the front door at the end of the stairs and the boom rolled around inside her hurt head like a sledgehammer. Worse of all, she knew Gran was next door in the garage and not due to check on her for a while. Winry sighed and glanced down at her holey sweat shorts and old hand-me-down R.E.M. Concert t-shirt that once belonged to her father. Whoever was at the door will have to deal with it, she decided.

"Coming!" Just yelling made the pain worse and she really wished it was because she drank the night before and not because she wrecked her bike. Slowly, she pulled herself upright and rolled out of bed.

Knock, knock knock!

"Damn-it, quit the knocking, I'm coming!" She held onto the railing coming downstairs, then peeked through the eye-hole to see two shining blond mops and golden eyes. "Elrics?" Winry groaned and opened the door.

"Hey." Alphonse greeted her first.

"Yeah." Ed managed to squeak the words out, but his grin said the rest.

"I supposed you brought my bike back?" Winry just wanted to go back to bed.

"Sure did." Edward smiled wider and he and Al moved aside to reveal their gift. "Hope this makes up for ruining your other one."

"Oh, my." The girl stepped barefoot on her porch to examine the new mountain bike. It was the same brand as her old one but a newer model and had all the bells and whistles, top notch. "This is really nice!" She squeezed the handbrakes.

"We felt bad about this morning." Al began. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Having headaches, but I think I'll live." Winry smiled at the younger Elric.

"Great!" Ed sauntered closer. "So, will you fix my door now?"

"What?" The small hairs on the back of her neck rose as did her temper.

"You know, you're bike is fixed so can you fix my door?"

"Ugh, you are unbelievable!"

"We'll pay you."

"We will?" Al didn't like Ed volunteering any more of his funds.

"You bet your Aunt Fanny, you will!" Winry sneered. "You may have given me back a bike...and a nice one..." She murmured the last part. "But you still have to work off the damage to my face!" The girl pointed at Ed as she spoke.

"Oh my God, Win...did he do that?" Paninya had pulled up in her Jeep and heard and seen Winry for the first time all summer.

"Wait..." Ed protested, this girl evidently thought he'd hit Winry with his fists.

"Did you hit my friend?" The girl leapt from the vehicle and soared through the air, tackling Edward by his waist and the two landed on the porch. "How dare you hit a girl!" Paninya began waylaying the hapless young man, landing good, solid punches on his nose and jaw.

Bark! Bark! Den came outside through the open door and danced around Paninya while she pummeled Edward.

"No!" Winry left her bike to try to pull her friend off the boy, but she didn't try too hard.

"There's a big misunderstanding!" Alphonse successfully pulled Winry's friend off his brother, allowing the young man to sit up and wipe his bloodied nose with the back of his left hand. "Ed didn't strike her...it was an accident!"

"Accident?" The dark-skinned girl looked from her bandaged friend to the kind face of the other golden-haired boy.

"Yes, I ran into his car door as he opened it." Winry huffed and tried to settle her friend down.

"I knew it!" Edward yelled and pointed at the blond girl. "You admit it!"

"Ugh!" Winry held her head. "Everyone stop yelling!"

"You kids!" All faces turned to see Pinako standing in the doorway, tapping her sandaled-foot. "Get your butts inside right now!" She stared each youth down as they slowly traipsed inside.  The old woman didn't have time for any teenage drama so she decided to nip this in the  bud.  "Sit!" She instructed them to find a seat in the living room.

Ed, Al and Winry sat down on a floral covered sofa. Winry reached over Alphonse and handed Ed a box of tissues, he took it quickly and pulled a piece out, wrapped it in a cord and stuffed it up his bleeding nose. The blonde girl giggled at the sight which earned her a glare. Paninya sat on the adjacent chair keeping an angry gaze at Edward and Granny took her recliner. Den thought this all was a grand hoot and quit barking and took her seat on top of Winry's feet.

"Hey...Winry?" Al, who was in the middle, poked the girl with his elbow to get her attention. "I found your shoe." He handed her the green sneaker.

"Thanks, Al." She fingered the item and placed it on her lap while her grandma spoke.

"Here's the deal." Pinako leaned forward for emphasis. "You boys injured my girl, here." She pointed to Winry. "Winry injured that one." She pointed to Ed's eye which by now was a lovely shade of purple underneath and slowly picking up the texture of the tread of the girl's shoe. "The bike's been replaced." She sat back. "The only thing not left equal is the car door." Pinako narrowed her eyes and looked directly at her granddaughter. "I think fixing the door would be a great learning experience for you." A thin smile cracked her elder lips. "At no charge."

"What!" Winry jumped making Den move from her feet and the shoe hit the floor. "Owie." Yelling suddenly hurt her head.

"You should have been wearing your helmet. I've told you a hundred times. Consider yourself lucky." Pinako scooted off the edge of the chair and left the teenagers glaring at each other. She turned to Paninya before she left the room. "And YOU...apologize to him for his nose!"

"Geesh...sorry." Paninya halfheartedly spoke.

"Eh, I've had worse." Edward snickered making the girl grumble.

"So...you guys are new here, huh?" Paninya looked the brothers up and down from shoe to head. "You know, if you want to get in with the popular crowd right away, there's a party tomorrow..."

"Shhhh!" Winry scolded her friend. She didn't want to go to this thing, herself least alone having to explain in person why Edward had a black eye too.

"Where's the party?" Alphonse wanted to start this school year right, he knew making an impression was key. He also didn't dislike the idea of seeing Winry in a bathing suit.

"Right on the Rain river at the Rocks." Paninya smiled wide.


	3. You've Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, making new friends hurts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/8/15 A/N: I swear at some point I'm going to get Ed and Winry together.

Alphonse felt a lot better Sunday morning. Sure, he and Edward were grounded, but despite being bawled out by Hohenhiem, the good Doctor did let Ed take his car back to Rockbell Auto Repair so Winry could fix the door. Despite Pinako's protest about teaching Winry her own lesson, their father also informed both of them that they'd still have to pay the teenage mechanic for the work. Hohenheim even arranged for part time jobs at the hospital. They just weren't sure what that exactly meant other than having to walk to the city bus stop after school so they could get there in time to put in a few hours work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The younger Elric was happy because it could have been so much worse – he feared his dad would separate them.

Edward felt like shit and he didn't even have a hangover. The old man locked up his liquor cabinet too. The sneaky bastard-dad even confessed he'd used the app on his phone to trace Ed's cell phone and knew the boys were just driving aimlessly around Central City then stopped at the high school. One of the nurses even drove by for him on her way home and let him know they were sleeping off a stinking drunk. He knew what they were up to the whole time! Still, Van thought it was a great idea for Ed and Al to have replaced the girl's bike and he did make sure to let the boys know this. But, despite the kindness, Edward would be separated from his car until he made enough money working the piddly hours he was assigned to pay Winry for the repairs.

Basically, Hohenheim owned their asses until about Christmas...or longer.

The only good thing about their whole situation, the only shining star was that their father maintained a gruesome work schedule. Edward planned to milk that cow for what it was worth and he abhorred milk.

"Do you think they'll like us, Brother?" Alphonse's body stretched across his brother's bed with his bare feet up against the white wall. He mindlessly tossed a tennis ball against the wall and caught it.

"I don't care." Ed sat at his desk with Al's laptop, he opened a Google search for waterproof prosthetic legs. "I'm not going."

"You have to! I don't want to go by myself." Al pouted. "Paninya said she'd be here at seven-thirty to pick us up."

"C'mon, you know me, my leg, and water don't cooperate." He huffed in defeat. Had Edward turned from his desk, he'd seen the happy and optimistic face on his brother fall to pieces. "I don't want to be the gimpy kid who needed help on the slippery river rocks." Edward swiveled around in his chair and caught his brother's sorrowful expression.

"I'm sorry. I'll not go either." Al's golden eyes stared at his brother's missing left leg, now replaced with steel and aluminum. Guilt tormented his kind heart.

"What the hell?" Edward left his chair and sat down on the bed next to the boy. "It's just one time, Al. I'm already finding a replacement prosthesis I can show Dad. You know he'll buy it...if I give him the doe eyes." Ed batted his eyelashes and made a pouty face to cheer his brother up. "Mom never could afford to get me more than this aluminum pole..." He pulled up his left pants leg to reveal a long metal shaft and knee joint. The foot was plastic and flesh colored. "The good Doctor on the other hand. HE has some making up to do for years of being out of our lives." Edward grinned. "I might be able to mulct him outta a leg made of god-damned diamonds!" This sent the once gloomy younger brother into a small fit of laughter and Edward joined him. "I mean, he bought me a fuckin' CAR!" The boys laughter exploded into near hysteria but was cut short by soft knocking on the white-wood door.

"Ed? Al?" Hohenheim stepped inside his son's room with trepidation. He didn't quite hear all of the conversation, but it overjoyed him to finally hear their laughter after all the teeth clenching and eye rolling since their arrival. "I'm leaving for work, you can go swimming in the pool if you want. Maria will be in at ten and she's going to keep an eye on you."

"Yeah...fine." Ed responded in monotone.

"We'll be good, Dad." Al responded earning a funny look from his brother for the lie.

"Okay. See you tonight." The older man slowly closed the white-washed door and the brother's held their breath as his footsteps faded down the stairway.

"Sucker." Ed smirked and grabbed the tennis ball mid air.

"Can't you put those red fairings on it?" Al, not having the toy anymore, rolled over on his side. "I always thought it looked cool with those on and, you don't have to swim."

"Yeah, they 're still packed up in my closet, had been meaning to wear them." Ed thought a bit about the red metal parts that snapped around his leg giving him more of an appearance of having a calf and shin and filling out his trouser leg better. He smiled thinking how several of the townspeople back in Resembool raised money to buy it for him for his birthday two years ago. However, the happy thought morphed into anger toward Hohenheim for dragging him away from all those wonderful friends. "I don't want to bust them up, though."

"Please, Brother?" Al learned to work his doe eyes from the best.

"Nah, next time."

Honk! Honk!

"Loser." Alphonse playfully punched his sibling in the shoulder as he got off the bed and made way for the door. "That's Paninya and Winry...probably in bikinis."

"Yeah?" Ed shot from the bed and sailed toward the large window. He clumsily raised the Venetian blind to gain a good view of Van Hohenheim's circular driveway. True to Al's prediction, a muddy green Jeep idled on the asphalt with its top removed. Paninya honked the horn and sat in a sporty green bikini top and camouflage cargo pants. Sitting next to her and placing a pair of sunglasses on her face, Winry wore a halter top two piece in a dazzling blue. Ed imagined it was the same color as her eyes.

"Brother." Al pushed Ed aside so he could see the girls too. "You have to go."

"I wish." Ed sighed and lowered his shoulders in defeat. "I'll cover for you, bro. Maybe I'll take a swim in the pool." He shoved his little brother toward the door.

"If you're sure." Al wanted to give his sibling one last chance.

"Go before they leave." He pushed him out the bedroom.

"Okay...later, Brother!" Alphonse reached back inside the room and picked up a black duffle bag he had packed and left behind his bedroom door and then he ran down the long staircase and out the door.

"Geesh, at least  _try_ to act conflicted about it..." Ed rolled his eyes as he heard the Jeep honk goodbye and leave the drive. The young man smiled coyly, thinking how his little brother crushed on the Rockbell girl and now he'd have a chance to maybe get a date. Thinking about Al and Winry started to make his stomach churn and for the life of him, he didn't understand why. After all, she was a pain the ass, smart-mouthed, machine head who wrecked his car and blamed him. Now anger filled that hurty-space in his gut and that was fine by him. Edward tugged off his t-shirt and began looking for his swim trunks. He decided if he was going to be stuck home at least he'd make the best of it down by the large swimming pool.

* * *

The warm morning wind tossed everyone's hair about and Alphonse smiled as he sat in the back of Paninya's vehicle. He loved the feeling of the wind, it reminded him of standing in the pastures in Resembool as the breeze blew his body too and fro. He almost laughed at the memory because they never stood too long on a rolling hill before launching themselves and rolling to the bottom. They'd sit up, covered in grass and laughing at each other. Al missed those fun, lazy times with Edward. He knew that things moved a lot faster here in the city and school was going to be so much different than the one room open air school house they attended back home.

"So, Al...what grade are you starting? Winry said you were fifteen...are you going into the tenth?" Paninya yelled over the wind and road noise as the Jeep traveled a windy, road in the forest.

"Um..." The young man suddenly smelled water, he knew they were near a river. "Actually, Ed and I had to take a placement test because the school we went to back home was so small. I tested into the eleventh grade and Ed into twelfth...but he chose to start the same grade as me so we'd graduate together." It hurt him to lie to them, the truth was that he and Ed tested to a college level and could have taken their GED and applied to Central University. Learning had always held so much importance to the brothers that they always studied on their own time. They practically taught the younger kids in their old school as well. However, it didn't take much to convince their father that they wanted a normal life and a chance to make new friends in Central so Van acquiesced to allow them both to enter the same grade together.

"Oh, so the brothers are smart!" Paniya joked. "I bet they're in a lot of your classes, Winry..." She elbowed the blonde next to her.

"I'm just taking advanced placement English, Biology and Trigonometry." She turned her head so Al could hear her better. "My concentration is on engineering and they have a great new intro to engineering class this year...what are you taking, Al?"

"Um...mostly advanced placement classes too. Chemistry, Biology, Calculus..."

"You got in to AP Calc?" The girl brought her dark glasses down to see the boy in the back seat. "That's a senior class, they wouldn't let me take it." She frowned.

"I'm sorry...I don't know how Brother and I got it – it must have been our placement scores..." He didn't want her mad at him, he couldn't help it that he and Ed excelled in mathematics.

"Don't pout, Win..." Paninya countered. "You got into that senior Anatomy class!"

"Hey, me too!" Al smiled, genuinely happy that he and Winry shared some classes. "But Brother did not, he'd taking Physics instead."

"I'm glad you're in Anatomy with me, we can study together." She smiled and turned back around in her seat.

"Bunch of nerdos in my car, we are here!" The Jeep came to a stop on the side of the road. There were already a few vehicles parked signaling the trio arrived later than others. "Darn it, I bet those dweebs took the best rocks!" Paninya stormed out of the car and slammed the door behind her.

"It's so hot, I can't wait to jump in the river, you swim, Al?" Winry left the her door open so the tall boy could exit on her side.

"Oh, yeah! Brother and I used to swim in the Rain River back home too...it also flows by our hometown."

"I thought Ed didn't swim...that's why he didn't come?" Winry had been curious why the youngest Elric joined them and not the elder. She just assumed Edward couldn't swim. Paninya interrupted.

"It's because of his leg, isn't it?" The dark-haired girl sad matter-of-factually. "Because he has a fake one?"

Both Al and Winry gasped in unison.

"How, how did you know?" Alphonse slung his bag over his shoulder and began following Paninya toward a trail in the woods.

"When I was on him, yesterday, you know, punching his lights out..." She kept walking. "I felt his left leg was a metal pole...figured he had a prosthetic."

"I had no idea!" Winry chimed in. "You couldn't tell by his gait." She tugged on the short sleeve of Al's t-shirt to stop him. "How did he lose his leg?" Her blue eyes searched his golden ones for an answer. The boy's sad face surprised her.

"It was...it was an accident back home." It pained the boy to speak it out loud. "A terrible...accident." He hated thinking about that day, the horrible day his brother almost died. Then, the image came to him, the picture of his brother laying on bloodied grass in a heap beside the still moving train. Guilt filled his belly and he fought the familiar sensation of needing to retch. An honest person by nature, Al also felt the need to elaborate, to tell her the reason for it all, but he just couldn't say it...not now.

What the boy said struck Winry hard, she stopped walking. She didn't need to see Alphonse, she heard the him wince as he uttered the words out loud. However, she did see his kind and beautiful face as he spoke it, a face twist up with what she could only describe as horror and something else, something excruciating. The girl realized Al saw it happen, he was there.

"It's ok." She moved without thinking and hugged him. His body stiffened at her touch, then relaxed and accepted the comforting gesture. It lasted only a second or two before she withdrew and pat him on his head – something her Granny always did to comfort her. "He's fine now, that's all that matters, right?" Her blue eyes sparkled in the speckled sunlight of the green forest.

"Yeah...he is." Al smiled meekly and then realized she'd hugged him, a pink blush crept across his cheeks. Winry giggled when she saw it.

"What's keeping you two!" Paninya obviously used this bossy voice to keep her campers in line when she was working, and it also worked on two hapless teenage friends. The trio made it to the river.

* * *

Edward considered his left leg for a moment as he sat on one of the white lounge chairs before the lake-still swimming pool. Suddenly, the memory overcame him again as sometimes happens when he attaches or removes the prosthesis. He remembered waking up in the tiny clinic room five years ago. His mother's frantic voice carried over a few other people talking but he never figured out what anyone was saying. Then, there were those blue eyes, four actually. The intense set of orbs hovered just in his field of vision and he heard them speak – a man and a woman. " _We can save his arm...but, the blood supply to the leg is permanently damaged."_ The male voice sounded sad. " _He will live, I promise, we won't let him die..."_ The female must have been talking to his mother.

Those doctors, the couple that were traveling on that train, they did save him. Edward haphazardly rubbed sunscreen on his torso then his right arm. He fingered the white and red scar that traveled around his shoulder where his limb had nearly been torn from its socket. Yes, they did save his arm, he lacked no function of the limb save a few numb fingers. However, despite that best effort, he suffered terrible aches when the weather turned cold or it rained. Other physicians told him it was the build up of scar tissue inside the limb. No matter, it worked, it was still there. Unlike his leg.

The young man pushed up his swim trunks so he could gain better access to the prosthesis on his left leg. Edward considered himself lucky, in a way. Many trans femoral amputees like him have to use braces or straps to keep their prosthesis in place but he could use the suction socket just fine. He pressed the small round button on the carbon fiber socket and heard the rush of air enter the large cup-like structure that contained what remained of this left thigh. Now, he could easily slide the stump from his leg. He set the limb aside and next went to task on removing the silicone sleeve that protected the skin of this stump. Once the boy was free of the thing, he let out a loud sigh of relief.

"That feels great." He scooted back on the lounge chair and put on a pair of dark sunglasses. Next, he picked up an enormous Advanced Chemistry book and sat back to take on some sun and get a head start on his reading for school.

* * *

"I don't see what the big deal is." Paninya grumbled as the trio made their way through a small gathering of kids on the riverbed. "I mean, I have TWO prosthetic legs for Christ's sake. He's being a big baby."

"Are you trying to scare away the new boy, Paninya?" A tall young man, with dark hair pulled back in a loose ponytail slid in between Paninya and Alphonse.

"Sod off, Ling." She shoved his chest, Ling barely staying upright from the blow. "If anyone has any problem with my stems, they've got a problem with me!" She thumbed her own chest in emphasis.

"I think you're legs are lovely...and everything north of them I'm happy to see as well." He smiled flirtatiously at the dark-skinned girl. "Aren't you going to introduce us?" He eyed Alphonse.

"Right." She pointed at Al. "This is Alphonse Elric. Alphonse, this is suck up is Ling. Discuss." She chuckled and trotted across the dry river rocks.

"Does she really have prosthetic legs?" Al watched Paninya stealthily negotiate the rocks until she found a large outcropping that overlooked the slow moving river. The girl drug a towel out of her bag and spread it on the rock claiming hers and Winry's spot. She tugged off her camouflage pants to reveal two prosthetic legs the same color as her dark skin. Paninya, unlike his brother, was missing her limbs just below her knees.

"Yes, she does. She had a terrible illness as a toddler and lost them." Winry walked past the two boys. "And, it certainly doesn't stop her from doing anything." She winked at Al and left him to Ling.

"New kid, huh?" If it were possible for Ling to narrow his already narrowed eyes, he did just that.

"Right. My brother and I moved here from Resembool this summer."

"Well, then, you're lucky to know me." He put his arm around Al's shoulder. "Let me introduce you to my friends." He maneuvered Alphonse until they were facing several teenagers in various stages of lounging and sunning themselves by the river. "This is my right hand girl, Lan Fan." Ling motioned to a raven-haired girl who seemed to materialize from nowhere. She nodded hello. "This is my sister, Mei."

"Hey." Al wondered why his voice just failed when he saw Ling's sister. The shorter girl just stood there wearing a pink tankini with her hair in a billion braids.

"Hi." Her strong voice soared above her diminutive body nearly knocking the boy down. "I heard there would be some new kids at school this year."

"How did you know?"

"Lan Fan's grandfather, Mr. Foo is principal." Ling interrupted. "So, we get some of the deets before others..." Sudden hoops and hollers coming from the path leading to the river distracted him. Al and Mei turned to see who was coming. "Aw shit." Ling darted to meet the newcomers.

"What's this about?" Al tried to see who was tearing through the path.

"Nothing but trouble." Mei growled.

* * *

The dream wasn't new. Before he realized he was dreaming at all, Edward let it play out as it had done hundreds of times since the day he lost his leg.

The fight started the whole thing. Alphonse always had this romantic notion that their dad watched over them from afar and all the good things that happened in their lives indirectly came from him. Ed hated to bring his brother down a notch but Al was too young to remember Hohenheim like he did. The new roof on the house came from helpful neighbors not their dad. The money to pay the taxes came from his mom working her butt off in their vegetable garden, not their father. Their new shoes came from the kindness and charity of Mrs. Bendible at the shoe store when their mother realized she didn't quite have enough to pay for them. Edward told his brother the truth and it affected the youth like a slap on his face.

"I think if we ask him he'd help...he's a doctor!" Al, on the verge of tears pleaded with his brother.

"Are you kidding? Mom would rather ask Mr. Plenkets prize sow than call up that bastard and ask for help with her treatment."

"But, she's sick, our doc said so. Shouldn't we take her to Central City where there are more doctors...maybe someone else can help? Dad's right there at the hospital...he'd help, I'm sure!"

"Al, just...just leave it alone." Ed didn't want to say anymore, but his brother just wouldn't drop it.

"No!" The younger Elric stormed out of the kitchen and found their telephone table in the entryway and pulled the drawer out so fast the whole drawer came sailing across the hall. He ran to it, and found their mother's address book and began rifling through the pages looking for a phone number for their dad. "I'll call him if you won't!"

"Who are you calling?" Trisha stood in the open front doorway. She carried a basket full of produce from their garden. She smiled but the boys both noticed the dark circles under her eyes. She'd been fretting over her recent diagnosis.

"He wants to ask dad for help." Edward quietly walked to the mess in the hallway and picked up the drawer with its contents and affixed it back in the table.

"What is wrong with the two of you?" Al couldn't believe neither his brother or mother would entertain asking Hohenheim for at least a reference to a physician who would help.

"Alphonse, dear, will you go sit down in the kitchen? I'll get you and your brother a glass of milk and we can talk." Trisha, in her eminent grace and elegance ordered her boys and they followed.

"No milk for me, mom...yuck." Ed helped her get the glasses and took one to pour himself water.

"I know." She ruffled his hair. "Can't blame me for trying." She poured a glass and handed it to Alphonse who stared at both of them, not understanding why they weren't upset. "Sit." Trisha smiled and joined the boys at the table.

"Mom!" Alphonse slammed down the glass and white liquid splattered on the wooden table. Trisha frowned at the mess.

"Al, honey...I know you adore your father." She took a deep breath to continue. "And I want nothing at all with making you stop." Trisha looked at Edward who stared at the wall behind his brother's head. "But, I've already called Hoheneheim..."

"And he didn't do squat!" Ed couldn't hold back. He'd stumbled in the house and caught the tail end of that conversation between his mom and dad. Trisha had to tell him everything and asked Edward to promise not to upset Alphonse with the ugly truth of it all.

"What Ed means is, your father thought it best that I continue my treatments in Resembool and in East City. He, in fact, did give me the names of a few specialists there."

"But he's not giving her any money to help out." Edward snarled. He longed for the day that Al saw their father's true nature, that he did not love their mother and probably only saw them as a burden whereas he had to support them only until they turned eighteen. Ed supposed this day was as good as any to burst Al's bubble and he could tell from the way his baby brother's face changed that he had.

"Dad?" It all hit Al too hard at once. He'd dreamed of a day when their father would return and ask for them to forgive him for leaving, that he'd marry their mom and whisk them away. Now, the realization of Hohenheim not even wanting to financially support their mom when she was most at need struck him like a baseball bat to the back of his skull. He couldn't handle it. He had to escape the house.

Alphonse shot up from his chair, knocking it to the ground and before his mother or brother could stop him, he'd already ran from their house. Edward gave his mom an "I'm sorry," look and ran after his sibling.

Trisha got up and wiped the spilled milk from the table. She felt the familiar rumbling of an approaching train as she did.

* * *

"Wake up, sleeping beauty!"

The foreign voice wafting through the dream of his mother brought Edward back to consciousness. He realized he'd fallen asleep on the chaise lounge by Hohenheim's swimming pool. What he didn't realize was just who was summoning him out of that dream.

"Wakey, wakey."

Ed opened his eyes and let them adjust to the bright morning sunshine when a strange face burst in front of the sun, diffusing the light.

"Hey, Al, should I kiss him awake?"

"The hell!" Ed shot up to see Alphonse and a whole gang of strange kids making themselves at home around the swimming pool. When his vision sharpened he also became aware that most of them, including his brother sported busted lips and bruises. "Alphonse, what happened?" Ed stood on his right leg and used Ling as a crutch, much to the boy's amusement. When the taller teen refused to budge, Edward smacked him across the crown of his head until he helped him over to Al.

"We had sort of an...altercation at the river." The younger Elric smiled and half giggled.

"Rockbell!" Ed scowled and scanned the pool area for the blonde girl he considered "in charge" of his baby brother during this outing. He noticed a movement to his right and Winry meekly came forward. "Is this what happens at your group's parties?"

"No!" Winry, apparently unscathed, stormed forward to face the forever grumpy golden boy. "Avari and his goony friends decided to crash our swimming outing." She giggled. "Your brother, Ling and Lan Fan basically trounced them..."

"Ling? Lan Fan?"

"Calm down Brother." Al strode up and let took reign of his brother from Ling. "Until the police showed up, it was really sort of fun."

"Police!" He looked around for someone to take out is anger and his yellow eyes fell solely on the squinting eyes of Ling. "You! It's your fault." Edward lunged forward away from the steadying hands of his brother. He aimed at wiping the grin from the boy's face. A set of hard, onyx colored eyes came between him and his prey and he realized he was now holding onto the shoulders of a very angry girl. "Oooof!" Ed heard his voice box release the sound after the girl in front of him landed her right palm directly into his solar plexus. He fell to the concrete.

"I'm Ling." Ling motioned to himself then to Lan Fan. "And that, was Lan Fan." His eyes opened wide. "I think this is a much better place to party." The boy grinned and someone started loud music from their ipod's speaker.


	4. Someday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pinako was no fool, she just didn't have all the facts to know what the brothers were scheming.

Roy Mustang felt ill prepared for the new school year. He and the other teachers had started a week earlier than the students and although he earnestly worked to organize his classroom and class agendas for the first grading period, it seemed he missed something. The dark-haired man scrutinized his notes and calendar but this gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach made him feel uneasy. It was as if something was coming, something that would make his life difficult.

The twenty-nine year old awoke early, showered, ate and even had time to brew a thermos full of strong coffee to get him through first to hopefully third period. He arrived early enough to see the first buses dropping off students and he picked up the pace and marched toward the school's entrance. Several familiar faces smiled at him or said hello and he returned the gesture. Roy's pride swelled a bit knowing that even though he taught the notoriously hated subject of chemistry, the student's liked him, dare he say even _admired_ him. Yes, he surely traveled in the fast track of the Central County school system on his way to Superintendent or even the state board of education. The man mused on his career as he turned the corner towards his classroom. He maneuvered the leather strap to the soft-sided briefcase worn across his body and then started unscrewing the cap to his coffee thermos, preparing to pour a nice stiff cup of joe.

Smack!

Suddenly, boiling hot coffee seeped through his blue button up shirt, soaking through his favorite silk tie. He had to look _down_ at the cause of this annoyance – a student with a shock of short blond hair and even shorter temper.

“Fuckin' Aye!” The curse flew from Edward's lips faster than the filter system in his brilliant mind could stop it. He'd run into a solid mass and currently sat on his butt in the main hallway of his brand new school. A small crowd of kids gathered to watch the show. Alphonse was no help – the younger brother stood petrified in his spot as Ed's gaze traveled up the form before him from his brown shoes to his coffee stained dress shirt. The young man's eyes fixated upon the shiny lariat around the man's neck and the I.D. badge dangling from the end signifying this man was a teacher. “Uh....” He stammered and struggled to get to standing.

“Brother...” Al broke from his terror-imposed trance and aided Ed up.

“YOU need to watch where you're going, young man.” Mustang's left eye twitched with rage and he was two steps from unleashing a tirade when he caught a flash of brown eyes twinkling in his peripheral vision.

“Roy...” A stern-looking woman stepped forward and plucked his spilled thermos from the ground. She'd known Roy Mustang for years, but only recently started working with him at Central City High. “I know you have a spare tie in your briefcase.” She handed him his coffee. “I bet this young man is just eager to learn today.” A glint of metal from the floor took her attention and the woman's piercing eyes stole a quick glimpse of the boy's prosthetic left leg peaking from under his jeans as he stood.

“Uh...yeah!” Ed tried to make the situation better. “I wasn't watching where I was going...” He'd like to smack the smirk off of this man's face, the pompous bastard. But, this was his first day and if it ended as it started things were going to be difficult.

“Get...to...your...homeroom.” Mustang snarled and grew angrier as the young man seemed to silently snarl right back.

“He's really sorry!” Alphonse drug his brother away as the watching students gave up on a potential fight and started to disperse. “Really!”

The two teachers watched the boys basically run from them and disappear in the crowd of youth. The woman ushered Roy aside and out of the flow of traffic, she'd somehow produced handkerchief and proceeded to pat at the stain on his chest.

“ _Ms. Hawkeye_ , you shouldn't have stopped me. That kid needed a write up for running. It was dangerous.” He took the cloth from her to finish soaking up the coffee.

“Give him this gift on the first day.” She didn't fail to notice the exclusion of her first name when he addressed her. “ _Mr. Mustang,_ that boy...he's missing his left leg.” She watched the dark-haired man's brow furl with thought at her statement.

“Hmmm.” Roy trusted Riza Hawkeye's keen eyesight as he'd seen it in action years before. If she said that tiny twerp had a fake leg, she wasn't making it up.

 

* * *

 

Winry couldn't believe that Paninya talked her into wearing a skirt on the first day of school. Because the weather was so warm, she'd planned on wearing shorts but when her plucky friend saw her, said friend marched the mechanic back to her room and made her change.

“ _You have to make a bold statement this year, Winry!”_ Paninya scolded her. _“No more slinking off into the shadows...THIS is your year!”_

True, Winry had been staying out of anyone's attention in school. If she really thought about it, ever since her parent's deaths, the girl really didn't try to socialize and everything she did outside of school came at Paninya's prodding. Swimming-at-the-River-with -the- _cool-_ kids-turned pool-party-at-the-Elrics was totally outside of her comfort zone but she really had fun. The Elric brothers seemed more welcoming towards her AND thanks to the scuffle with Avari and his jerks, many of the kids at school today sported facial bruises and shiners. Winry chuckled as she walked through the crowded hall to her locker-she wasn't the only one at school today with a black eye.

“What are YOU laughing at?” The snotty comment came from a dark-haired girl standing right in front of Winry's locker.

“Just a funny thought I had...Desiree.” She exhaled, totally not wanting to have to deal with this horrible girl, one of Avari's girlfriends. Desiree had been one of the kids fighting at the river and she didn't mind punching boys or girls.

"Yeah, well keep it to yourself, chicken legs.” She snarled and eyed Winry's bare legs and smirked. “As if _anyone_ other than your butch girlfriend wanted to see what was under that _tacky skirt._ ” Desiree wore a tight black tank top and black shorts with silvery bling embroidery on the rear pockets. She leaned her pale, bare shoulder on Winry's locker, blocking the blond girl's entry. With a toss of her glossy raven curls, she twisted her dark red lips into a smile. “I bet you just _love_ the kinky things that legless wonder does to you, don't you? I bet she gave you that shiner too.” She wasn't going to move until she'd totally broken down her prey.

“ _Slut.”_ Winry kept that thought in her head. The last thing she wanted was to cause a public display in the hallway with Desiree. This girl had always been mean, it was nothing new. So, she just kept silent.

“Aw... you're no fun.” Desiree feigned a pout. She had to get to her own class and Winry wasn't playing. “Looks like we're going to be neighbors this year...later.” She brushed past the blond, knocking her into the cold steel lockers.

“You ok?”

“Yeah.” Winry smiled at the ever-happy face of Alphonse Elric and hoped he didn't happen to hear everything Desiree said.

“She's not very nice.” His golden eyes scrunched into a frown, one very similar to his older brother's angry stare. “Do you want to change lockers with me?” Al ushered both of them down the crowded hallway.

“No. I don't want her to torment anyone else.” The girl internally cringed because Desiree had a talent for going through boyfriends and dumping them in ruins. Winry certainly didn't want the cold bitch to get her ugly claws on the sweet Elric boy...now his _brother_ , maybe. However, she doubted Edward would consent to change lockers. “Where are you headed?” She clutched her books to her chest.

“Anatomy. You?”

“Same.” She smiled, glad a familiar face would join her in the senior class. “I've heard Dr. Marcoh is really nice...but his test are not.”

“Great!”

 

* * *

 

Edward sat in the front row waiting patiently for his advanced placement chemistry class to begin. Scanning the room, he took in the variety of students: there were the handful of nerdy-types; a sole sporty-jock; and several he couldn't quite place. He realized he fit in just fine. After spending a few days devouring the textbook and amazingly understanding many of the concepts, the young man felt quite prepared for whatever awaited. A deep desire maturated within him to master chemistry, move on to organic chemistry and then he and Alphonse could start working together on the secret project they wasted away many late-night hours discussing. Ed knew that it would take years before they both were even at a place to start their work in chemistry and biology but every journey must start with a single step.

“Hey...” A sneaky voice caught his ear. “Pst?”

“Huh?”

“Can I borrow a pencil?”

“Uh...sure.” Ed dug into the notebook on his desk and found his extra number two. He turned to come face to face with the squinty-smile of none other than Ling Yao. “You?” He dropped the pencil in the boy's open hand.

“Yeah...why so surprised?”

“I just figured you'd steer clear of classes like _this._ ” Edward turned around, suddenly annoyed that Ling took the seat directly behind him. He hoped the seating arrangements were not permanent.

“What? Like chemistry's hard? Ouch. You hurt my feelings.” Ling chuckled. “I'll have you know, I'm quite the honor student.”

“I'll bet.” About to retort more verbal abuse toward Ling, Ed was cut off by the door opening.

“Good morning, class.” Roy Mustang waltzed inside his class room exactly one second before the tardy bell sounded. He smoothed down his new and pristine tie which barely covered the coffee stain on his dress shirt. At that moment, Roy's dark eyes caught sight of Ed's golden ones.

“...oh man.” Edward wanted to disappear. Of course he'd have to sit right up front in the classroom of the teacher he'd clobbered in the hallway that very morning. He sank even lower in his seat as a wicked smile warped its way across Roy Mustang's face.

“I'm Roy Mustang...YOU can call me Mister Mustang...and this is AP Chemistry.” He stared right at Edward. “Let's start with a quiz.”

The class groaned in unison.

 

* * *

 

The final bell rang loudly, signally a long first day of school over. Kids began piling out the main doors and into waiting yellow Blue Bird buses or their own vehicles. Two golden-haired boys trudged forward, looking for the bus that would take them closest to the hospital so they could start their after school job.

“I have homework already. God-damned Mustang.” Ed swore. “Al, you should have seen his face, though, when I aced his quiz.” The young man stopped to eye the bus numbers.

“Winry's in my anatomy class...” Al spewed the words.

“OK...so?” The older brother smirked. “You gonna kiss her there?”

“Brother!” Al's cheeks turned crimson.

“Hey guys.” The voice of the very same girl Ed chided Al about carried through the cacophony of talking teens mulling around the entrance. “Having to slum it and take the bus with us plebes?”

“Well, if YOU'D hurry up and fix my car, we'd ride in style.” Ed grumbled.

“Parts...” She clenched her teeth as she continued. “The door part has been ordered. As soon as it arrives the Red Barron will be fixed.”

“Red Barron?” Alphonse questioned.

“A car that brash and that _red_ needed a name to match.” Winry squinted her blue eyes toward Ed.

“Winry, that's asinine. It's a car, doesn't need a name. Only stupid _girls_ name their cars.” He stepped away, not seeing the girl seething in her strappy sandals, yet knowing he got to her. “Didn't you ride here with Sporty Spice...you know, Paninya? Why are you taking the bus?”

“I don't need to explain anything to you, Ed, but for your information, Paninya has track practice.” Winry let out a loud “humft” then made her way to one of the buses, leaving the boys.

“Brother, why are you so mean to her?” Al shook his head.

“I don't see a reason to coddle her, do you?”

“Ed, she's nice...I'd hoped we all could be friends.”

“I don't need friends, Al, I just need to graduate and get into college.”

“Whatever.” Alphonse would have to find a way to repair the bridge his brother had destroyed between him and Winry. That would have to wait for now. “Hey! There's our bus...c'mon!” Al grabbed his brother's arm and tried to make his way toward the bus to their punishment jobs. However, he found his brother heading in the same direction as the girl. “Ed?”

“Al, do you want to work for two hours?”

“Not really.”

“Then follow me.”

“Oh man.” Al recognized the grin on his brother's face and knew they'd probably both end up in trouble.

The boys made their way to Winry's bus, entered it and found a seat right in front of the girl.

“What in the hell do you two think you're doing?” The girl leaned up over the seat to berate the brothers. “This bus goes nowhere near your home.”

“I've decided to spend the evening at your house.” Ed uttered every bit as calm as Winry was angered.

“Oh no you're not!” The girl made movement to get up and tell the bus driver when the doors shut and the vehicle lurched forward. The movement thrust her back into her seat. “Damn-it!”

“Looks like you have no choice but be hospitable to us...like we were to you and your friends at the pool party...at my house.” He crossed his arms as his brother turned and looked over the seat to find the girl scowling.

“Sorry about this, Winry.” He sighed, hating Ed's tactics but thankful they were not going to lhose two hours of their evening at the hospital changing bed pans or worse. “We can do our homework on your porch until Dad gets off work. I supposed Brother will call him and tell him we got on the wrong bus...” He plopped back down in his seat, this time, growling at his brother.

“Yeah, I'll call him. He can't be mad at us for a simple mistake on the first day.” Edward chuckled loudly as the bus engine roared.

It didn't take too long before the bus rounded a corner now familiar to both boys, one that led to a grimier part of Central City. The sidewalks crumbled and somehow, even the grass that managed to grow took on the same gray hue as the pavement and brick buildings. Everything took on this bleak cast, like a photographer's filter - everything except the bright yellow house they could see from the bus stop. Rockbell Auto shown like a bright beacon in all the depressive bland colors of the neighborhood. It called the teens and seemed to open its mothering arms to shelter them from the drowning sea of gray surrounding all else. The trio exited the bus and started out for their lighthouse in the middle of the block.

“Unlike you...I have _work_ to do, you know.” Winry grit her teeth. “Work I can't sneak away from.” She had planned to sweet talk Gramps and Pitt into taking a break from whatever paying customer they were working for and help her work on the camaro for an hour or so. Pitt had called her Sunday evening, excited he discovered a carburetor at the salvage yard and planned to rebuild it that night for her. She also had homework to do and no time to entertain the two golden boys following her like puppies. “I don't have time to bring you two cookies and lemonade...”

“We don't need anything, just a couple of hours to lay low.” Alphonse tried to smooth things over.

“Besides, I bet your cookies would be burnt.” Ed goaded and almost got out a snarky comment on how bitter the lemonade was when an object came sailing down the sidewalk, hitting him squarely between his eyes.

Smack!

“Shut the Hell up.” Winry managed yet a second time to remove her shoe, this time a sandal and expertly strike the boy from several yards away. She turned and wobbled on one barefoot as she huffed her way to the house.

“Hey!” Ed tossed the offending shoe to the ground and took off toward the girl. His brother's hand restrained him.

“Ed...let it alone or she'll kick us out.” He scooped up her shoe and began a slow march toward the house as well. He hoped his brother would cool down.

The trio made it to the neat picket fence and Winry angrily tugged open the gate, letting it slam behind her and nearly clothes-lining Edward. The boy huffed and reopened the latch but kept the gate open allowing his brother to follow. They shadowed the mechanic as she marched heavy footed up the wooden steps. Her Grandma's smiling face met her at the front screened door.

“Did you pick up some strays on the way home?” Pinako chuckled at the three, not oblivious to her irate granddaughter. She knew the older Elric kid had something up his sleeve by the cocky stance he took and the Cheshire cat grin spreading across his face. The younger brother held the look of a deer caught in the headlights of a car on Route Ten.

“Ahhh!” Too angry for a suitable retort, Winry dropped her backpack to the side of the entry and marched upstairs to put on her coveralls. “I'm gonna work on the camaro. You can feed these two scraps or something...they're supposed to stay on the front porch!” The girl stomped upstairs.

“Sorry to put you out...you see...” Al was a pathetic liar. Ed jumped in to save him.

“We got on the wrong bus...would it be alright if we did our homework here until Dad gets off work at seven?” He all but patted his blond eyelashes.

“Wrong bus, hmmm?” Pinako was no fool, she just didn't have all the facts to know what the brothers were scheming. “Come on in, boys...I'll not have you waiting on the porch, go ahead and set up on the kitchen table and I'll get you some cold lemonade.” She knew something was up but she wasn't about to withhold hospitality. “You can stay for supper, if you like...I'm making lamb stew and always have too much for me and Winry.”

“Lamb stew?” Ed perked up and the smell of simmering lamb struck his nostrils as soon as his foot hit the kitchen linoleum. The last time he had lamb stew, his mom was alive.

“That'd be wonderful!” Alphonse pulled his brother further into the kitchen which was to the right of the front entry and the boys tugged off their own backpacks and cracked open their books.

“I could eat stew.” Ed muttered as nonchalantly as he could and then started rifling through his homework. An angry girl's loud-as-elephant's stomps down the staircase destroyed the trio's relative peace.

“Going to the garage...” Winry caught sight of two golden brothers working at the table while her grandmother chopped vegetables at the counter. “Granny!”

“If they're going to wait, they'll wait in side and we have more than enough to feed them.” Pinako scolded, knowing Winry wished to punish the Elrics for following her home.

“Whatever.” The girl, now clad in an old pair of much to big coveralls – the arms and legs rolled up – continued her storm out the back door and toward the auto shop

 

* * *

  

“Winry!” Pitt Renbek, nineteen-years-old, all but threw the restored carburetor at the teen. His green eyes twinkling with pride. “Got this baby together last night, my best time ever.” Plopping the heavy part into the girl's open hands, he enjoyed the excitement beaming from her blue eyes. “I bet if you sweet talked him Gramps would stop work on the Chevy and help us put this in.”

“I can't believe it!” She turned the piece in her hands, studying it with admiration. “How much do I owe for this?” Winry had some spare cash in her room, she probably could cover the salvage fee.

“Nothing...it was dirt cheap and well...” He scratched the back of his head. “Your happiness just now is payment enough.” Pitt hoped a blush didn't creep up behind the grease he knew was smears on his cheeks.

“Pitt, you are a total sweetheart!” The teen leaned into the young man as best she could while holding the part and then shot off to the corner of the garage where her black beauty sat on blocks.

“I know.” He smiled and followed her.

 

* * *

  

“Ugh, Al...” Ed squirmed in his chair. Having finished off two glasses of lemonade, his back teeth were floating. “Gotta take a leak!”

“What do you want me to do about it?” The younger brother teased from behind his anatomy book.

“Don't know where it is.”

“Ask Winry's Grandma.” The brother almost hissed as his brother scooted out of his seat and tiptoed over to Pinako.

“Excuse me...um...could I use your bathroom?” Edward had no idea why he suddenly felt timid, other than the fact that this little granny looked tough as nails and all she had to do was poke him with her wooden spoon and he'd have to mop the floor.

“It's up the stairs...first door as you come to the top of the landing.” She barely raised an eyelash.

“Thanks!” The young man ran out the kitchen and up the stairs.

“You better put that seat down when you're done, short stuff!” The loudest voice either of the boys ever heard poured out of the old woman's mouth. “ _Ladies_ live in this house, you know!”

“Don't call me short!” Ed hollered as he slammed the bathroom door closed. He had to fight the urge to pee with the seat down, ensuring it was properly splattered. He hoped Alphonse's laughter was just his imagination.

That need satisfied, he exited the modest bathroom and _should_ have gone down the stairs and back to the kitchen. Instead, he lingered in the hallway and scrutinized the many framed photographs on both walls. The scenes these portrayed could well have been a commercial for a happy family: a mom, dad, little girl, Grandma, and even a dog paraded happily around. The father seemed strong, happy and had handsome features. The mother was beautiful and glowing. The Grandma looked the same mean old hag currently stirring stew downstairs. The daughter, he knew this was Winry. Although her hair was shorter in these pictures of her past, she still glowed with cuteness and life. Edward wondered what happened to her family leaving her alone with her grandmother but he suspected he and Alphonse weren't the only kids traumatized by the loss of a parent. Ed hated it for her because his mom's death left he and Al a mess so he suspected that losing _both_ parents must be immeasurably worse. He made a mental note to lighten up on her at school.

From the corner of his eye, he caught an open bedroom door with the evening light streaming into the hall as if beckoning him to enter. His curiosity was piqued, and he just knew this was Winry's room. Edward poked his golden head in first and then entered the typical teen abode. The bed was unmade with the girl's school clothes strewn across the top of her covers, evidence she got into her work cloths in a haste. Large photos and machine schematics covered the walls in the same way posters of a boy band or teen heart-throbs would a normal girl's bedroom. This only proved that Winry was anything but a normal girl causing the young man to chuckle. Then, something truly amazing stuck out in the images on the girl's bedroom walls: a series of prosthetic arms and legs. He came closer to inspect the posters as he had never seen these models of limbs before. They seemed to have no metal or minimal metal parts with farings made of what looked to be some sort of composite or plastic, he couldn't tell. Next to one pretty cool model leg was posted a picture of a machine. Having been ripped from a magazine article, Edward could read the title: _3-D Printers Made Affordable_ . A yellow sticky note was affixed over the article's text and the note read “ _Someday!”_

“Dinner's ready!” Pinako's harsh dinner bell struck the boy's ears and he realized he didn't want to be caught snooping. Determined to figure out why this bike-riding, shop junky girl had posters of artificial limbs plastered across her bedroom walls, Edward sailed down the stairs hoping Pinako's stew tasted as good as his mom's.

He doubted it.

 

 


End file.
